1SS4.I Ueucral Nofcs. \(^T^ 



lip, like a Plo\cr just alightiiiLj. On sceinj( thai I woulci not be cieco\ecl 

 away, it ran around nie in the same attitude. Recognizing that it ■was 

 the Connecticut Warbler, 1 took it, and then sought out the nest in the 

 moss. It was entirely composed of dry grass, and sunken level with tlie 

 surface. The eggs, four in number, measured .75 X .56 in. Before being 

 blown they were of a delicate creamy white, with a few spots of lilac-pur- 

 ple, brown, and black, inclined to form a ring at the large end. 



This nest was sent, with the parent birds, to the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion; the indentification was confirmed, and the nest deposited in the 

 Museum. — -Ernest E. T. Seton, Carbcrry. Manitoba. 



The Loggerhead Shrike {^Laniiis Indoz'icia/ms). — -Dr. Elliot Coues has 

 described so minutelj' the habits of the LaniidiE in his account of 'Shrikes 

 in a State of Nature' (Birds of the Colorado Valley, Part I, 1S78), that 

 very little is left in the historj' of the Shrikes for other observers to record. 

 However, an unusual incident (to me) in the nidificatlon of Laiiius ludo- 

 viciaiiHS came under my observation last spring, which I trust will be of 

 interest enough to ornithologists to warrant a place in 'The Auk.' On May 

 19 1 discovered the nest of this Shrike upon the central fork of a thorn tree, 

 and almost within reach from the ground. As the nest contained only one 

 egg, I did not then take it, but returned seven days later to find that two 

 more eggs had been laid. As I wanted a specimen, I shot the bird as it 

 arose from the nest, and it proved on dissection to be a female. I tried 

 in vain to obtain the male, but he kept beyond range, appearing much 

 excited and uttering constantly a peculiar note, similar to the sound pro- 

 duced by blowing through a pea-whistle. Six days later, I found a new 

 and completed nest on the tree next to that which had held the one I took, 

 and as I stood looking at it, a pair of Loggerhead Shrikes flew close up 

 to it. While watching them I wondered whether the male of the first 

 nest could have procured another mate and built a nest in such a short 

 time. Of course I could not solve this point, as I had nothing to identify 

 the bird by; but I have since been informed by Mr. Chamberlain of St. 

 John, N. B., that he had witnessed something similar, and was enabled to 

 identify his bird by its having 07ily one eye. I therefore think it fair to 

 presume that the male of the first nest I obtained did arrange his second 

 matrimonial venture within the six daj's. On discovering these nests I 

 expected to find the 'Shrike's larder,' but after examining all of the thorn 

 trees and bushes in the vicinitj', I found not a single bird or insect 

 impaled on any of them. — Ernest D. Wintle. Montreal. 



Cowbirds in a Black-and-white Creeper's Nest. — In the spring of iSSi 

 a friend reported finding a bird's nest with two sorts of eggs in it. Suspect- 

 ing the solution of this mystery, I examined the nest some days later and 

 found a couple of yovmg Cowbirds, with gaping mouths but fat and plump, 

 while entirely underneath them was an addled Cowbird's egg and two 

 young Black-and-white Creepers, the latter nearly dead from starvation or 

 suffocation — or both. 



